Mushika dynasty, also spelled Mushaka, also Eli or Ezhi[1], was a minor dynastic power that held sway over the region in and around Mount Ezhi (Ezhimala) in present-day northern Kerala, south India.[1][2]
The country of the Ezhimala, ruled by an ancient chiefly lineage ("the Muvan"), appears in early historic (pre-Pallava) south India.[3][4][5]Early Tamil poems contain several references to the exploits of Nannan, the ruler of Ezhimala (fl. c. 180 AD,[6] who defeated the Tagadur Satiyaputra ruler).[7][8] Nannan was known as a great enemy of the early Chera rulers.[7] The family also had matrimonial alliances with the Chera, Pandya and Chola rulers in this period.[9]
The Ezhimala polity gradually developed into a monarchical state (known as the Kolladesham) in the early medieval period.[7][10] It came under the influence of medieval Chera kingdom in the early medieval period.[11] The hereditary title of the Mushika kings in the medieval period was Ramaghata Mushaka (Malayalam: Iramakuta Muvar).[12][13] Mushika royals seem to have assisted the Chera kings in their struggle against the Chola Empire.[14][15] Two subsequent Chola inscriptions (c. 1005 AD, Rajaraja I and c. 1018–19, Rajadhiraja) mention the defeat of the Kolladesham and the fall of the Iramakuta Muvar.[10][15][13] The presence of the Cholas in north Kerala (1020 AD) is confirmed by the Eramam inscription.[13] The kingdom survived the Chera state, and came to be known as Kolathunad (Kannur-Kasaragod area) in the post-Chera period.[7]
The Mushaka Vamsa Kavya, a dynastic chronicle composed in the 11th century by poet Athula, describes the history of the Mushika lineage.[16][14] The medieval Mushikas were considered as Kshatriyas of Soma Vamsa.[15] The dynasty also claimed descent from the legendary HeheyaKshatriyas.[17]
The Mushika kings appear to have encouraged a variety of merchant guilds in their kingdom. Famous Indian guilds such as the anjuvannam, the manigramam, the valanchiyar and the nanadeshikal show their presence in the kingdom. The kings are also described as great champions of Hindu religion and temples. Some Mushika rulers are known for their patronage to a famous Buddhist vihara in central Kerala.[15] Presence of Jewish merchants is also speculated in the ports of Mushika kingdom. A location in Madayi is still known as "the Jew's pond" (the Jutakkulam).[15]
Etymology
The term "Mushika" or "Mushaka" [Parvata] is the Sanskrit translation of the ancient Tamil name "Ezhimalai" (the Ezhil Kunram).[18][19] The name was incorrectly pronounced as "Elimala" (thus "the Mountain of the Rats") also.[19][17] The term Mushika in ancient Tamil also means the tree called "Vaka" [the sacred tree of the rulers of Ezhimala].[20]
The Ezhimala hill is described in Mushaka Vamsa Kavya as the "Mushaka Parvata".[21] The early historic fort, under the Ettikulam Fort, is currently protected by Department of Archaeology, Kerala.[22]
Origins
Ezhimala, the ancient capital, as seen from train.
The ancient ruling family of the Ezhimala seems to have existed in northern Kerala at least from early historic (pre-Pallava) period.[23]
Ancient Tamil poems also describe the polity of Ezhimalai (also Ezhilmalai) on the northern edge of Tamilakam on its west (Malabar) coast.[24] The rulers of Ezhilmalai were the most prominent hill chieftains of ancient Kerala.[25] The port known as "Naravu" was located in Ezhimalai chiefdom (Akam, 97). The "Muvan" chieftain of the early Tamil poems, described as an adversary of the early Chera chieftains, is also identical with the Muvan of Ezhimalai.[5] The early historic Ezhimala clan had matrimonial alliances with the Chera, Pandya and Chola rulers .[26] The family was also related to that of the rulers of Kantiramala.[25]
Mahabharata, the Sanskrit epic poem of ancient India, also mention the Mushika as one of the kingdoms of the deep South of India, and is grouped with the Cheras, Pandyas and Cholas.[27]
Ezhimala Nannan
There are repeated references to several rulers with the name or title "Nannan" in early Tamil literature.[6][5][28] These include, among others, the Akananuru and Purananuru poems, the Natrinai, the Pathitruppathu and the Kurunthokai.[5] Nannan was the ruler of Ezhimalai ("the Ezhil Kunram") in northern Kerala.[25][29] The Vaka tree is described as the sacred tutelary tree of Nannan.[29] He was known as a great enemy of the early (pre-Pallava) Chera rulers (western Tamil Nadu and central Kerala).[5] He is also marked out as the hunter chieftain of the "vetar" descent group ("vetar-ko-man").[25]
Nannan (the ruler of Pazhi)
Inscription of Tagadur Adigan [Adigaiman] ruler (the Satiyaputra) Neduman Anji
Nannan is described as the ruler of "Pazhi" and "Param" by poet Paranar (Akam, 142 and 152).[6] He was a companion of the Ay ruler (southern Kerala) Eyinan.[6] Poems 351 and 396 from the Purananuru characterize Nannan and Ay Eyinan as relatives and as extremely close friends. So intimate was their relationship that Nannan renamed the "Pirampu" hills in his country as "Ay-pirampu".[30][31]
In the battle of Pazhi, the warriors of Nannan led by certain Njimili (or Minjili) defeated the Tagadur Adigan [Adigaiman] ruler (the Satiyaputra) Neduman Anji.[8] The Satiyaputra, on behalf of the Chera ruler Perumcheral Irumporai, had invaded Pazhi of Nannan with a large force. The Satiyaputra ruler was slain by Njimili or Minjili in the battle ("who won fame by putting to the sword vast numbers of enemies").[6][8] Njimili or Minjili also killed Ay ruler Eyinan, also in a fight at Pazhi ("Pazhipparanthalai", Akam, 141, 181, and 396, and Natrinai, 265).[6]
Nannan [possessing a golden chariot and golden chaplet] was eventually defeated [and killed] by Chera ruler "Kalankaykkanni" Narmudi Cheral (fl. c. 180 AD) at "Kadambin Peruvayil".[6][8] According to the poem, the Chera ruler, after murdering Nannan, chopped down the sacred vaka tree.[28]
In a battle at Kazhumalam, Nannan defeated a chieftain called Pindan (Akam, 152, and Natrinai, 270).[20] Poet Kudavayur Kirattanar speaks about the defeat of certain Pazhayan by Nannan [and his associates Ettai, Atti, Gangan, Katti and Punthurai] (Akam, 44).
It is mentioned that the "Kosar" people, associated with Chellur (Perinchellur, modern Taliparamba) attacked Ezhimala country of Nannan, and even cut down the totemistic mango tree.[20] Nannan defeated the Kosars with help of Chola Ilanchettu Chenni, but Pazhi was sacked by the Cholas (Kurunthokai, 73 and Akam, 375).
Other references
Nannan (c. 210 AD), probably the son of the ruler of the same name, is also introduced in the early Tamil poems. He is celebrated in "Malaipadukkadam" by poet Perum Kausika and is also mentioned by Mankudi Marudan in "Maduraikkanchi".[6] Another ruler of by the name [Nannan] is infamous for killing a young women (apparently for eating a fruit [mango] that came floating down to her in a stream).[6] Another "Nannan" with the title "Udiyan" is mentioned as the "master of gold filled Pazhi".[6]
There references to certain "Nannan", the ruler of "Konkanam".[5] He is described as the Nannan dwelling in "Kanam" and as "Konkanam Kizhan" (the lord of Konkanam), and as the lord of the mountain Konkanam ("Ko Perunkanam") (Akam, 392).[6]
Nannan is perhaps identical with "Nandana", the ancient ruler of mentioned in the medieval poem Mushaka Vamsa.[20]
The port known as "Naravu" was located in Ezhimalai country (Akam, 97).[5] It is generally identified with Naura, which is mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as a port somewhere north of Tyndis and Muziris.[32][33] Naura generally generally identified with present-day Kannur).[33]
Beyond Calliena there are other market-towns of this region; Semylla, Mandagora, Palaepatmae, Melizigara, Byzantium, Togarum and Aurannoboas. Then here are the islands called Sesecrienae and that of the Aegidii, and that of the Caenitae, opposite the place called Chersonesus (and in these places there are pirates), and after this the White Island. Then come Naura and Tyndis, the first markets of Damirica, and then Muziris and Nelcynda, which are now of leading importance. Tyndis is of the Kingdom of Cerobothra; it is a village in plain sight by the sea. Muziris, of the same Kingdom, abounds in ships sent there with cargoes from Arabia, and by the Greeks; it is located on a river, distant from Tyndis by river and sea five hundred stadia, and up the river from the shore twenty stadia.
The term "naravu" means honey or liquor in Tamil.[33]
The sweet, ripe fruits covered with bees satisfy the travelers on the pathways and the town [of Naravu] is rich with resources. The tireless warriors with bow and arrow shiver due to the cool winds from the sea. The chief [of Naravu] is amidst tender women.
—Pathitruppathu 60
A kings' double nature: a guide to singers. His armies love Massacre, he loves war, yet gifts flow from him ceaselessly,
Come, dear singers. Let's go and see him in Naravu, where on trees no ax can fell, fruits ripen, unharmed by swarms of bees, egg-shaped [jackfruit], ready for the weary traveler in fields of steady, unfailing harvests;
where warriors with bows that never tire of arrows shiver but stand austere in the sea winds mixed with the lit cloud and the spray of seafoam.
There he is, in the town of Naravu, tender among tender women
—Pathitruppathu 60
Political geography
The Ezhimala country can ben located to north of the Chera country.[20] Nannan is described as the ruler of a land called "Punnadu", and settlements such as Viyalur and [the slopes of] Pazhi, the Ezhil Hill, and Param.[20] He is also called the lord of "Puzhinadu", and "Tulu Nadu".[20] There are other references to certain "Nannan", the ruler of "Konkanam" and Nannan seated at Tondai Mandalam (the later in the "Malaipadukkadam").[5][20] Param was the former base of chieftain Minjili, who died at the battle of Pazhipparanthalai.[20] The country of Ezhimala was near to the land of the Kosar people and the country of the Kadambu tribe.[20]
It also mentioned that Nannan fought and died in the battle against Narmudi Cheral at the great harbour or "Perunthurai".[20] Akananuru describes the country of Nannan as follows.[20]
[…] in the slopes of Pāḻi in the tall/long Ēḻil mountain of Naṉṉaṉ with a pearl necklace, the chief of Pāram with joy of charity/abundant toddy, who liberally gives/flings elephant bulls [due his] famous liberalism, the chief with a spear who overcame Piṇṭaṉ while breaking [his] opposition on the battlefield, [Piṇṭaṉ] who very much swarmed around showing copious enmity like a colony of small whiteshrimps that attacks while the good vessels which give the wealth (taṉam) of great harbour (peruntuṟai) with seashore groves at the extension of the sounding water, had been sundered/dispersed […]
In his book on travels (Il Milione), Marco Polo recounts his visit to the area in the mid 1290s. Other visitors included Faxian, the Buddhist pilgrim and Ibn Batuta, writer and historian of Tangiers. The Arabic inscription on a copper slab within the Madayi Mosque in Kannur records its foundation year as 1124 CE.[39][40]
Medieval Kolla-desam (or the Mushika-rajya) stretched on the banks of Kavvai, Koppam and Valappattanam rivers.[41]
Origins from Mushaka Vamsa Kavya
The medieval Mushikas rulers professed to be of the Hehaya line (the Hehayas being themselves Yadavas).[42] The first Mushika king, consecrated by Parashurama as the kshatriya king of the country, according to the poem, was son of a widowed queen from Mahismati.[42] The queen had escaped from the wrath of Parashurama and fled to the divine Ezhimala Mountain.[17] This king’s [youngest] son succeeded him in as the Mushika ruler.[42]
The Vaishnava Garuda [eagle] banner was the flag-sign of the medieval Mushika rulers.[42]
Relation to the Chera rulers
The Kolla-desham (or the Mushika-rajya) came under the influence of the medieval Chera kingdom in the early medieval period.[41] The reign of Chera ruler Vijayaraga (late 9th century AD) probably witnessed the expansion of Chera influence into the Mushika country.[43] However, the repeated Chola references (early 11th century AD) to several kings in medieval Kerala confirms that the sovereign power of the Chera rulers was restricted to central Kerala (the country around capital Mahodayapuram-Kodungallur). The medieval Chera authority remained nominal in northern and southern Kerala compared with the power that local rulers (such as that of the Mushika in the north and Venad in the south) exercised politically and militarily.[44]
Mushika rulers from medieval inscriptions (10th - 12th centuries AD)
Kantan Karivarman alias "Ramakuta Muvar" (c. 1020 AD) [45] — mentioned in an Eramam inscription of Chera Bhaskara Ravi Manukuladitya (10th/11th century AD).[45]
In 1005 AD, i. e., 20 regnal year of emperor Rajaraja I (985–1014 AD), there is a reference (in the Senur inscription) to the defeat of the "haughty" kings at Kollam, Kolladesam and Kodungallur at the hand of Rajaraja.[49] The "Kolladesam" is identified with the Mushika kingdom in north Kerala. According to scholars, "plunder is emphasised more than conquest [in the inscription] and it is likely that the victories at Kollam in the south, Kodungallur in the center and Kolladesam in the north of Kerala have been primarily the achievement of [the Chola] naval forces".[49]
Chola emperor Rajadhiraja (1019–1044–1053/4 AD) is stated to have "confined the undaunted king of Venad [back] to Che[ra]natu, destroyed the Iramakuta Muvar in anger, and put on a fresh garland of Vanchi flowers after capturing Kantalur Salai [ Vizhinjam?] while the strong Villavan [the Chera king] hid himself in terror inside the jungle".[50] The Ramakuta Muvar is not named in the above Chola prasasti (the above events are dated to around 1018–19 AD).[50]
The presence of Chola army in north Kerala (1020 AD) is confirmed by the Eramam inscription of Chera ruler Bhaskara Ravi Manukuladitya (10th/11th century AD) (which mentions a meeting attended by Rajendra Chola Samaya Senapati in the Chalappuram Temple).[50]
Partly in the courtyard of the temple on either side of the sopana.[46]
Partly in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.[46]
Creation and endowment of a grama (Brahmin settlement) with members chosen from some old grama settlements from central Kerala (Vaikom, Paravur, Avittathoor, Irinjalakuda and Peruvanam).[46]
The engraver is mentioned as Rama Jayamani, the "royal goldsmith of the Mushika king [Jayamani]".[46]
Single stone slab outside the prakara (outer wall) of the temple.[60]
Maniyur inscriptionConfirms the extension of the so-called Agreement of Muzhikkulam to Mushika country.[60]
Udaya Varma Kolattiri
An inscription discovered from Kannappuram Temple, found fixed on a platform outside the prakara of the temple, in old Malayalam mentions king "Udaya Varma Ramakuta Muvar".[48] The record give details of land set apart for the expenses of the Kannapuram Temple. The inscription can be attributed to the early years of the 12th century on the basis of script and language.[48]
Inscription
Location
Notes
Kannapuram inscription
(beginning of the 12th century)
Single stone slab fixed on a platform outside the prakara (outer wall) of the Kannapuram temple.[48]
King Udaya Varma of Karippattu palace in Kolattunadu is described as a favourite of the medieval Chera king in traditional Kerala chronicles. He is described as the overlord of the Fort Valapattanam, the medieval Chera king's Palace, the Taliparamba Temple, and the Perinchellur Brahmin village.[61]
References
1 2 Narayanan, M. G. S. Perumāḷs of Kerala. Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013 [1972]. 178.
↑ Ganesh, K.N. (1 August 2009). "Lived Spaces in History: A Study in Human Geography in the Context of Sangam Texts". Studies in History. 25 (2): 151–195. doi:10.1177/025764301002500201. ISSN0257-6430.
1 2 Narayanan, M. G. S. Perumāḷs of Kerala. Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013 [1972]. 195.
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